Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1159 Expansion
Zhu Mincheng and Li Dingguo chatted for more than an hour before they roughly discussed the follow-up arrangements.

After Zhu Mincheng announced the rewards to the soldiers in public, everyone cheered after hearing the news, especially those soldiers who originally belonged to the Eight Banners. Their eyes lit up and they were extremely excited.

Although these elite Eight Banners soldiers were selected by Zhu Mincheng and Li Dingguo and brought to the New World, and although they looked no different from ordinary Ming soldiers by keeping their hair and wearing different clothes and using Chinese names and surnames, they were still unruly and wild in their bones.

The reason why the Eight Banners were so good at fighting before was because they were originally a fishing and hunting nation. Especially since Nurhaci, the Later Jin regime had continuously annexed various Jurchen tribes, captured these so-called wild Jurchens and incorporated them into the Eight Banners as needed for war.

From this point of view, many people have been living for war since childhood. They have no other skills except fighting. Moreover, the Eight Banners were set up because of war. Only by relying on war and constantly slaughtering enemies to establish merits can they stand out and gain wealth and prosperity.

When the so-called Qing Dynasty was destroyed by the Ming Dynasty, these people suddenly became confused. Without the constraints of the Eight Banners, they could not see the future at all. Although the Ming Dynasty had policies that allowed these people to continue to survive through resettlement in various places, perhaps after a few generations, they would be able to integrate into the Ming Dynasty like ordinary Ming people.

But the problem is that, except for a small number of people, most of them only have the ability to fight. It is difficult for them to accept such a change by giving up their swords, guns, bows and arrows and picking up hoes to farm. This is also the reason why when Zhu Mincheng took Li Dingguo to Liaodong and selected people from the elite of the Eight Banners to go to the New World, many elites were willing to join the army and leave Liaodong for the New World.

When they arrived in the New World, these people not only wanted to prove their abilities, but also hoped to make a career in this world. Although the sudden outbreak of the war was unexpected, it was also a good thing. Through this war, these people finally let out the anger they had been holding back. Moreover, Zhu Mincheng's reward to them after the war made everyone excited. Unlike the previous reluctance, they now regarded Zhu Mincheng as their real master and were loyal to him.

The rewards were distributed quickly. Zhu Mincheng was very bold and gave almost half of his property to everyone. As the King of Song, Zhu Mincheng was very clear that he was no longer a prince of the Ming Dynasty. If he was in the Ming Dynasty, it would be normal for him to live on his wealth. After all, he usually lived on his salary. Even the salary of a prince was limited. Without money, many things could not be done.

But now he is a vassal of the overseas territories of the Ming Dynasty, and he is the real king in this place. As a king, why do you need so much silver in your hands? The whole country belongs to you. Only by developing the country, what kind of wealth will you not have? Zhu Mincheng knows very well what is important. Moreover, as the legitimate son of Zhu Shenzhu, Zhu Mincheng has heard the story of how his father started from scratch since he was a child. You must know that Zhu Shenzhu, as a member of the royal family, has accumulated huge wealth through smuggling and other transactions. If these wealth are only for him to enjoy, he will not be able to spend them in several lifetimes.

However, Zhu Shenzhui never intended to keep the wealth. Instead, he used it to recruit soldiers and invested a lot of money and resources to train the most elite troops of the Ming Dynasty - the New Army. Relying on the Tumed cavalry of Mongolia, Zhu Shenzhui fought in the south and the north, and finally chose the most appropriate time to suddenly raise an army and enter the capital on the pretext of pacifying the rebellion, and finally became the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

With his father's example, how could Zhu Mincheng not understand this? For this reason, he chose to do so, and his approach also had a very good effect. The loyalty of his subordinates who received the reward increased greatly, and at the same time, it also solved their problem of more men than women. With these women as rewards, the Song Dynasty would have descendants in the future and be able to consolidate its own rule.

All the young women among the captives were given to his subordinates, but Zhu Mincheng did not keep any of them. In fact, when Li Dingguo arranged this matter, he specially selected three beautiful young women from the captives and sent them to Zhu Mincheng, but Zhu Mincheng did not keep them.

It’s not that Zhu Mincheng didn’t want to keep these three women. To be honest, these three women were indeed good-looking, and the natives of the New World looked not much different from the people of the Ming Dynasty. They were more acceptable than the women from Western Europe.

In addition, Zhu Mincheng was also a young man with full blood and vigor, and he still had physical needs. But he was more concerned about the stability and development of the Song Dynasty. Now was not the time to indulge in tenderness, so Zhu Mincheng gritted his teeth and gave all three women to his subordinates, one of whom was given to Li Dingguo, and the other two were given to his subordinate Si Nong and the guard who was seriously injured at the time. This move made Li Dingguo admire Zhu Mincheng even more, and directly increased his loyalty. Zhu Mincheng also made arrangements for other captives. After the men among the captives had their big toes cut off, they were all pulled out to work, reclaiming wasteland or cutting wood and quarrying, etc.

The enemy's sneak attack destroyed nearly half of the farmland outside the city, and the crops that were supposed to be harvested in a few months were destroyed. This year's harvest will definitely be much less than expected. Since this was done by these natives, the people who were killed before have paid the price with their lives, and the living captives are naturally the same. It is normal to let them compensate with labor.

In addition, the placement of so many captives was also a problem. Although these people deserved to die, they were already captured and were Zhu Mincheng's men. Moreover, when the Song Dynasty was first established, Zhu Mincheng had only a little over 2,000 people, most of whom were professional soldiers. He needed more manpower to develop the country.

With these captives, they can be used not only to expand the new capital, but also to reclaim wasteland. Zhu Mincheng naturally wants to make good use of them. The management of these captives is also very simple, because the two sides do not speak the same language and communication is difficult, which is not a problem. The language can be learned slowly, and after a few days, you will always be able to figure out the other party's language situation, and management is not difficult. Don't forget that most of the soldiers in Zhu Mincheng's hands are the elite of the original Eight Banners. Although the Eight Banners system is based on the military system, it is also an excellent primitive management system.

These captives were not yet considered Zhu Mincheng's subjects, and of course they could not enjoy the treatment as subjects, so the Eight Banners system was used as a reference, and they were organized and managed in a militarized manner. This was extremely easy for these people who were originally from the Eight Banners.

It is impossible to leave the remaining old and weak idle. It doesn't matter if they can't work in the fields, they can do handicrafts and other things, right? If this doesn't work, then there is no need for these people to live. You have to know that feeding so many people every day is not a small amount of food. Zhu Mincheng is not a saint, how can he feed them for nothing?

The rest were some children. There were quite a few children among the captives, more than 200 in total, and nearly half of them were boys. Some of the boys were older and some were younger. Some of the younger ones were still with their mothers and were directly distributed to the subordinates along with the women. The older children were organized into groups, and Zhu Mincheng asked Li Dingguo to send people to teach and train them. Children have strong learning abilities, and they can be better integrated into the army if they are taught from a young age. After a few years, these children will grow up and not only become a supplement to Zhu Mincheng's army, but also his real people. At the same time, he can also use these children to annex other surrounding tribes.

After the arrangement of the prisoners was completed, the work in Xinjing was in full swing. Although there were some problems in the placement and work of the prisoners, under the fierce and decisive high-pressure tactics of Zhu Mincheng and his subordinates, the prisoners saw several troublemakers being beheaded in public and their heads hung high on the city wall. In the end, they gave up the idea of ​​resistance, recognized the facts, and became much more obedient.

In addition to continuing to open up wasteland and cultivate land, the next step is to expand the new capital. Shortly after the war, Zhu Mincheng decided to expand the scope of Xinjing several times on the current basis to ensure the future development of Xinjing. In addition, the city walls previously built with wood will be gradually replaced with brick and stone walls to enhance the defense capabilities of Xinjing.

After all, there had been a sneak attack before, and Zhu Mincheng was worried that similar situations would happen again. Although these natives were not strong in combat, necessary precautions were still necessary. In addition to sending troops to clean up and expel the surrounding tribes, the defense of Xinjing was stable, especially the city wall, which was the top priority. It was not difficult to build the city wall with bricks and stones. With these prisoners, Zhu Mincheng had a lot more manpower available. In addition, there were mountains not far from Xinjing, so it was very convenient to let the troops escort some prisoners there to mine stones and transport them back to build the city wall.

In this way, the entire Xinjing, including the fields outside the city, changed day by day at a speed visible to the naked eye. With the abundance of manpower and the troops sent out during the period to clear the nearby local tribes and capture many people, the development of Xinjing entered the fast lane.

On this day, Zhu Mincheng led people to inspect the construction of Xinjing's city wall. These days, there is a steady stream of stones mined from the mountains every day, then transported here, and then used as materials for building the city wall. At present, Xinjing's new city wall has been built for nearly two miles. The entire city wall is built completely according to the county town pattern of Daming. Such a city has excellent defense capabilities and is also suitable for living and later expansion. Looking at this section of the city wall that has begun to take shape, Zhu Mincheng smiled. At this time, he has imagined the magnificent appearance of the city wall and the city after they are all completed.

(End of this chapter)